Home: A Nick Studios Story
by hockeyfanmaddy
Summary: I'm Sydney. I have worked at Nickelodeon studios since I was 14 in 1994. I am now 27 in 2007. Today, August 1, 2007, I had to bid my final farewell to the studio that shaped my mind, career, and memory for who I am. It just got more intense from there.
1. Chapter 1

If you just look farther past the orange VHS tapes, past the countless curtains of slime falling out of the blue, the logos, the bumpers, theme songs, and even the toys, I have made an adventure there. This is the alleged story.

I'm Sydney. I have worked at Nickelodeon studios since I was 14 in 1994. I am now 27 in 2007. Today, August 1, 2007, I had to bid my final farewell to the studio that shaped my mind, career, and memory for who I am. As I walked towards this now vacant memory sanctuary, you wouldn't be able to tell from the outside it was Nick studios! As for me, I could still note the place of the odd-shaped, splat-ish Nick logo that declared the studio's place, now a matter of a grey outline of the shape. Yep, everything Nick-related was gone from the outside. But if you're a die-hard '90s kid like me whom this was like their metaphorical, imaginary parent, you didn't care. You had to go in now while the gettin's good, before this gets plastered over with some millennial, cringey, annoyance that stabs your inner child's thought with a dagger.

I noted the fountain fixture in place of the infamous slime geyser, the time capsule now dug up and moved, for some dumb reason or another. I pass by the still-working automatic sliding doors, greeted with that thrift store smell of the entrance hallway. Naturally, the elevator didn't work, so I climbed a turned-off escalator like steps, dying inside from what waited for me at the top;

A chalkboard with:

"Goodbye is just a word.

It starts as soon as it ends.

Never forget where you came from.

You know who you are."

Dating back to July 5th, 2007, A.K.A. the announcement of the studio's closing. Alicia signed the bottom.

That was the day. Where we took our turns asking "what ifs" for the shows we worked with.

" _What if slime was NEVER invented?"_

 _"What if KCA shows NEVER existed?"_

 _"What if we never gone in with the orange color-cult , and stayed with the 'silver ball' of the '80's to this very day?"_

I walked on, only to hurt emotionally even more. Murals of the _Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Catdog, Rocko, _and _The Angry Beavers_ graced the primarily white walls. The carpet was black with neon swirls of all colors, to make it look like you were in an actual Nicktoon!

Then, I remembered. I had left a letter to my friend in the bathroom, behind a sink mirror, a place where only we knew to store it without no one looking. What was it about, you ask? Just some proven-true spells that Alicia created to revive the "souls" of the'90's Nick characters/props. We kept it between ourselves, hid it well, because again she told me:

 _These spells are 100% accurate. Only we are tried and true enough to handle them. They get into the wrong hands, and, I'd rather not talk about it!_

The bathroom as I remembered, had slime splat-like patterns of green on the floor. How clever! In fact, _I_ came up with that idea!

It was the 3rd one to the right, I quickly remembered. As I used a pencil to scootch it out, nothing.

 _M-Maybe, it's another one,_ I thought.

Nothing but debris fell out from behind the mirror.

It was gone.

With someone else.

I was screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

Gone.

Nothing but debris.

No note.

Nothing.

Flash-forward to the next day, August 2nd, 2007, I _have_ to talk to Alicia about that note! And what no better way to talk about it over a Starbucks breakfast to start the balmy, summer morning.

"Sooo, that note. The one we made before the studio closed,"

Alicia looked up at me, a mouth full of apple fritter.

"It's gone." I just couldn't find a less straightforward way to put it. Disgusting bits of chewed apple fritter were spat onto my side of the table. Talk about a drama queen!

"SYD!"

"Don't look at me! I didn't do it! I was the one who went to the mirror and found out it wasn't there, so it's not _my_ fault!"

"Do you realize how-"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't waste your breath." It was either me saying that, or be in for another long, nagging lecture.

"Fine. Don't come crying to me then if an Aggro Crag lands on top of your house and crushes it, or your basement gets flooded with slime."

With Alicia, once again, sarcasm was her norm, but now I'm just plain scared. Were _those_ the spells that were written on that note? _Crap._

"I...gotta go." I sip my scorchingly hot latte to wake me up, and drove as quick as I could back to my home, whilst still abiding by the speed limits.

When I made it back to my house, a modest-looking country cottage, I thanked God I was not too late. Now, in the meantime of this "still safe" time, I went through a rediculously long list of employees/friends we worked with back in the day at Nick studios. First, alphabetically, other than Alicia, was my "hush-hush" boyfriend, Alexander.

After 5 weird, long rings, a young, male voice picked up.

"Hello?"

"Alex, this is Syd."

"Heeey! How are you?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm calling you because...you know that note me and Alicia saved when the studio closed? The one with all the spells and such?"

"Ohh yeah. *sighs* I was working one day, prepping up the restrooms around that time, and I turned it in to the main office."

"Ok. What'd _they_ do with it?"

"The confiscated it, took note of the 'spells', as you call them, and now have some sort of carbon-copied record of it. Now, from what I can remember, it's in the Nickelodeon Permanent Records Facility."

Talk about too much information.

"That's all I need to know. Thanks."

"No problem."

Now we have taken care of that particular problem, all that's remaining was the matter of access into the Nick Permanent Records. Seems easy enough, right?

You know what they say, don't count your chickens before they hatch.


	3. Chapter 3

August 3rd. 10 AM. Perfect timing.

 _They should open any second now._

A black sedan pulled up to the executive-looking building.

"You're here awfully early.", said a husky man in a black suit, reaching for the key ring with about 1,000 keys.

"What are you here for?"

"A note. From me and my friend, Alicia."

He looked confused.

"It was in a tiny, orange envelope? Had, *ahem* spells dealing with '90's Nick?"

"You mean the 'Passage of Nostalgia'?"

"Whatever. Where is it? A fellow, well, _former_ employee told me it was referred to here. I'm Sydney. Alexander told me it was here."

"Ohhh,Sydney! Please, allow me."

It was right then and there, that I instantly remembered him as well. He was Corey, our supervisor from back in the day. To you, he'd seem like the typical "stuck-in-the-'90's-never-getting-out" person. To me, and all the other employees, he was the perfect person to converse to about the classified-in-a-way info that was me/Alicia's note.

"I took that note, and practiced them for myself."

My heart sank as deep as the bottom of the ocean.

"Did.. _anything happen?_ "

"At first, no. I did _everything,_ down to lighting all 5 slime-green candles, on each of the edges of the orange, 'sacred' star I drew."

"With which marker?"

" , orange scented."

 _Crap. He did do everything right, even use a '90's-related marker."_

Alicia then pulled up, half of her car on the sidewalk, the front grille of her sedan mangled and torn up, as if she _hit something_ with it on her way here.

"Syd! Corey!" She panted rapidly, almost taking a spill out of her white recent-year Ford Fusion.

"I was just going down the Highway 11 exit to get here, then, BOOM! From my right, a person wearing gold or something just sprinted on by, carefree! I tried to stop in time, but,but-"

"Alicia, stop. Calm down. Talk to Corey about it. I'll go look at your car."

As Corey was now being tortured with Alicia's stammering and shock, Syd traced the massive "dent" in the middle of the grille. A red feather floated off the chrome paint, blood indeed smeared in its silky vane . Two more red feathers were blown off in the breeze.

"Alicia?"

"What?"

"Corey, I know what that spell was for. You just resurrected all of Olmec's temple guards, and now they are all lose somewhere in the woods of Florida. Alicia, you hit one of them on your way here."

"Should I be concerned?"

"Let's see. Corey, what other spells did you practice?"

"To tell you the truth, there was one with me having to concentrate on climbing a mountain of some sort, some kind of... 'crag'."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

The Radical Rock, in all of its 30-foot, hellish, you-wouldn't-believe-kids-used-to-climb-that-thing goodness, fell literally out of the blue, right on the building.

"YOU JUST BROUGHT BACK THE AGGRO CRAG, YOU DUMB-"

"Guys, who are they?" Alicia pointed to the top of the crag, where two people, one in a Bruins jersey, another in a striped, dress-like nightshirt, climbed down. Syd swore she could just punch Corey in the face now.

"Great. With Mike and Mo with it, too?"

That did it. They were screwed, _for real this time._ Hitting a temple guard with your car was one thing, but having an Aggro Crag land upon your place of business, crushing it to ruins and inches away from KILLING YOU was another. Another new male voice was introduced to Syd.

"Do ya have it?!"


	4. Chapter 4

"NO! NO WE DON'T!" Syd broke into the state that Alicia used to be in.

"WE AIN'T GOT NOTHING! YOUR CRAG JUST NEARLY KILLED US! WHAT _DO_ WE HAVE? OUR LIVES, THAT'S WHAT!" She inhaled/exhaled dramatically.

 _That was a mouthful._

"Well, _so-rry!_ Never knew our crag was more dangerous in the real world than it was on the show!", Mo teased.

"Where are we anyways?", Mike asked.

"Glad you asked. August 3rd, 2007.", Syd replied.

They felt shocked at first, but then they _had_ to ask her more, of course.

"How?"

"It's somewhat my fault. I wrote this list, me and my friend, _the one who's a nervous wreck."_ She glanced at Alicia. If there was only a reason for her _to_ be calm.

"We made this note of 'spells' or 'passages' that would bring shows like the one you were on back. I hid it as best I could, for _reasons."_ She glared at Corey.

"That guy there, Corey, is an exact example of those _reasons._ Now, Alicia, her, she hit a temple guard on her way here, and _THAT,"_ she gestured to the crag. "was inches away from killing us and having _our_ guts spilled, no pun intended."

"Any questions?", she asked, sarcastically. Corey raised his hand. Syd couldn't tell whether he was serious at this point or not.

"Uggh. Yes?"

"Of all of... how many passages were there?"

"10. Oh god, you didn't-"

In a split second, out of nowhere again, the trademark green slime rained down on them, drenching all 5 in the messy goo.

"That can only mean one thing. Well, actually 4. 4 spells dealt with slime."

"Uhh, Syd. Behind you. Above you. EVERYWHERE!"

Before they knew it was physically possible, the gang was surrounded. Behind Syd was the slime geyser from the front of the building. They got drenched from above by how the slime fell down on contestants from "Figure It Out" and "You Can't Do That On Television". Right in front of her, behind Mike and Mo, was Marc Summers and the Physical Challenge.

"Syd, I can explain-"

 _Oh, the irony._ As soon as Corey said "explain", Clarissa Darling butted in.

"Explain?", she said. "Explain what?"

Syd couldn't believe this was happening to _her._

 _Why me God, why me?_

Every step she took trying to escape, something '90's Nick was there. Her eyes ached with the sudden and constant eyesore shapes and forms of orange and green. Every theme song from all the shows that were filmed at the studio were playing in her head simultaneously, like a torture device.

" _This is Alll-That",_

 _"Way Cool!"_

 _"D-D-Do ya have it?"_

 _"Hey Sandyy-"_

 _gasp!_

 _"_ STOPPP! JUST STOP IT! NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF WE DIDN'T MAKE THAT STUPID NOTE!"

She paused.

 _That's it. The note! The solution to all our problems!_

"I got it, guys!"


	5. Chapter 5

"The note had spells to _bring back_ '90's Nick, so there _must_ be spells to _put it back!"_

 _"_ Uh, there isn't. I was the one who wrote it." Alicia interrupted.

"Great. I knew that.", Said Syd, trying to sound like she remembered.

Daydreaming while watching the Pete Brothers scouring the Aggro Crag for actuators, Syd had thought up the most profound idea. As with _all_ her ideas, she had to get approval from Alicia and Corey.

"Guys, we _could_ try other things _before_ this, but someone has to rip Alicia's note to send these people and these things back where they belong. How can they be here if there isn't any reason _why_ they're here?"

"I don't know whether to cry, laugh, or agree with you."

"What _should_ we do then? Time-travel back to the '90's?"

They didn't answer.

"I rest my case."

"YEEEAAAAHH!" Little Pete notified them that he won the crag.

"I feel as if this will be one of those things where I feel sad about it, but it's for the better. Corey, where's the note at?"

"You're lucky I have it at my house. I-uh, _knew_ all this was going to happen in the first place. No. I'm not psychic... _am I?_ "

At Corey's, the trademarked orange envelope shone through a pile of white greeting card letters.

"What are you waiting for", blurted out Syd. "Just rip it! Don't even bother opening it!"

"Well, here goes." All of the characters were looking on at him, sadistic, wide-eyed, and teary, like he was watching one of those anti-animal cruelty ads. He averted his eyes as he followed through. _Everything_ Syd says goes.

* _r-i-i-i-i-p!*_

He looked back, having the orange envelope in 2 equal, long pieces.

"Did it work?"

Only one way to find out. On Corey's porch, nobody/nothing was there.

"Guys, it worked! I'll miss them, though."

"Well, the worst part's over. Let's get back to the studio."

"Where will _I_ work? The building was destroyed by the crag."

"Wherever me and Alicia are going, because the studio the studio is still closed, at least from what we know now."

"Well, we're here." Corey pulled up to the exact address of the studio.

"Wha-what?"

"What happened?" There was no Nick Studios. Just a vacant, white-painted building.

"Let's ask that guy." Corey pointed to a middle-aged man on a bench outside the building as they got out of the car.

"Mister, have you known what happened to the Nick Studios building?" It couldn't have been emptied out _that quick_ , could it?

"What's Nick Studios?" He stood up, wearing a shirt with something that appeared to be the "Silver Ball" from the '80's on it.

"Uh, sir, what day and/or year are we in?", Alicia asked.

"August 3rd, 2007."

 _The same day._

"Alicia. When you told Corey to rip that note, he, or _we,_ just knocked '90's Nickelodeon out of existence."


	6. Chapter 6

"What is your problem?!"

"You told me to rip it!"

"Guys, all we have to do is get some evidence of ours that proves '90's Nick's existence. Alicia, you have _Nickelodeon_ magazines. Syd, you have those orange VHS tapes, and _I_ have..." He pulled out a water bottle full of of green liquid. "The most '90's Nick thing of all:slime from that time it rained down on us." He always wanted to act like he had the best things out of everyone else's.

"Now, let's..." He flipped down his shades, CSI style.

"Turn over a Nickel-New leaf" ( **YEEAAAAHHHH**!)

 **AN: Bad joke, I know. Shortest chapter in the book, no doubt.**


	7. Chapter 7

Alicia threw down a stack of Nick magazines from the '90's onto the floor in front of them.

"OK. Let's get started. Go through all of these, and clip out any ads, any articles, and any pictures or even reviews of shows that were filmed at the studio. We worked there, so it shouldn't be _that_ hard."

And so they began. Issue after issue. The sound of snipping scissors and tearing of papers were overtaking voices. Alicia had to now admit to the fact that her precious magazines she had since she was an elementary student were losing their values until they were scraps. But, once you think about it, it was either this, or skip from the '80's to the '00's.

"Will this work?" Syd held up a clipped-out article on the airing of a new comedy sketch show: _All That._

"Yes, absolutely." Alicia tried to hide behind her choked-up-ness.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh. Just have to accept the fact that my magazines are being ruined. BUT, I know it's for a worthy cause."

"Annnd, tell me again, why are _these_ still here, when the studio is gone?"

"Good question.",said Corey. "Despite the fact that the physical building is gone, _still_ means there will be recorded, physical evidence of said programs' existence. For example, if a TV show gets cancelled, there will always be the actors/actresses and home videos/movies, books, and magazines." He studied the collection of snippings that came from the towering stack of magazines. Advertisements for upcoming game shows, live action shows, and some educational-ish shows, was the first page he picked out. Kind like a "help wanted" ad. Next, he picked up a review for a toy. One of those rip-offs of popular characters of the time. Something about a "superhero-action-figure" thing. Doesn't get more '90's than that! Then, an interview for an actor, the name of which doesn't have to be mentioned in this book. Just the fact it's from Nick Magazine automatically made it applicable.

"I'm only gonna take one of each; one ad, one interview, and a toy review. Oh, and that recipe for a "slime cake" or something, as well as that puzzle page." he said as he pointed to a loose page containing a crossword and word search Nick related.

"So you're trying to tell _me,"_ Alicia growled. "that you didn't have to use ALL OF THE MAGAZINES?! You know what these mean to me?!"

"And do _you_ know what our jobs and valuable childhoods, not to mention others', mean to _us?!"_

No answer.

"Then, let's go! What sense would it make just standing her talking?"

"But how are these _helpful_ for bringing '90's Nick back?" Syd asked.

"You'll see. I know a place where, um, we can turn these pieces of paper into a reality."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Worst case scenario, we'll have to rebuild the studio from the ground up."

The 2 girls looked at him in a "you don't mean..." manner.

"What are we waitin' for? I want my job back, _maybe._ " Syd got her hopes up a little too much.

And so they rode in Corey's car, until they slowed to a stop at an apartment building. The girls didn't object to anything on the way, for they were confident enough in their colleague.

 _He knows what he's doing._

 _He knows._


End file.
